Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne says his job is to move 鈥渇rom fear to opportunity鈥� when it comes to the development and regulation of artificial intelligence, but when pressed on whether he believes the exponentially advancing technology poses a risk to humanity, he wouldn鈥檛 say.
In an interview airing Sunday, Champagne told CTV鈥檚 Question Period host Vassy Kapelos there needs to be transparency about the technology, and a framework in place to strike a balance between 鈥渢he anxiety of Canadians鈥� and the developers who want 鈥渞esponsible innovation.鈥�
鈥淚'll let the experts debate what it could do,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut my job is that we need to move from fear to opportunity.鈥�
鈥淎nd you know, I think this is fundamental, because what we want is responsible AI,鈥� he added.
But when asked again whether he believes AI is an existential threat 鈥� as AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio has referred to it 鈥� or whether he鈥檚 afraid of it, Champagne wouldn鈥檛 say.
鈥淭here is a sense of anxiety, but at the same time, AI can do great things for humanity,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t's for us to decide what we want AI to be.鈥�
The federal government has been in the process of laying out its AI regulations since June 2022 with the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act, baked into the larger Bill C-27, which also amends other acts as they relate to privacy.
Champagne also unveiled a voluntary code of conduct for companies that develop and manage AI late last month.
The Innovation Minister said his department has been looking at what other countries are doing in their bids to produce frameworks around AI, and as The Canadian Press reported in June, he believes Canada is 鈥渁head of the curve鈥� in its approach.
But critics and experts have called both Bill C-27 and the voluntary code of conduct vague and opaque.
鈥淚 am hopeful it can do good things for humanity,鈥� he said in response to a question about whether AI scares him, and adding he鈥檚 being 鈥減rudent.鈥�
鈥淏ut at the same time, we need to prevent the really bad stuff that you say experts have been warning us (about),鈥� he also said.
François-Philippe Champagne discusses his views on the risks and opportunities of AI in the video at the top of this article.
His full interview with Kapelos, which also covers his government鈥檚 plan to stabilize food prices, will air Sunday on CTV鈥檚 Question Period.
